CN109506060B

CN109506060B - Rotatable connector

Info

Publication number: CN109506060B
Application number: CN201811528423.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨斌堂
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-12-13
Filing date: 2018-12-13
Publication date: 2023-08-25
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-13
Also published as: CN109506060A

Abstract

The application provides a rotatable connector, which comprises a first component and a second component, wherein a rotating cavity is arranged in the first component; the second member includes an adjustment portion; the adjusting part is wholly or partially arranged in the inner space of the rotating cavity; a guide space is formed between the inner wall surface of the rotating cavity and the outer wall surface of the adjusting part, and a rolling piece is filled in the guide space. According to the application, the rolling body is arranged in the rotating space, and through a reasonable sealing structure, the two relatively rotating components can rotate in multiple degrees of freedom, and meanwhile, leakage or blocking caused by deformation or abrasion is effectively prevented.

Description

Rotatable connector

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of connecting pieces, in particular to a rotatable connector.

Background

The connector is widely applied to various fields, such as life pipes, industrial conveying pipelines, aerospace and the like, and can be used for assembling linear pipelines with limited length on one hand and realizing fluid reversing on the other hand; the reversing is divided into rigid reversing and flexible reversing, the flexible reversing is common in life, such as a rubber hose and the like, and can realize adjustment of multiple degrees of freedom, but in the occasion of compact structure and enough strength required or high-temperature and high-pressure fluid transmission, the flexible reversing joint cannot be suitable due to material limitation; the rigid reversing is mainly performed at a fixed angle, and the rigid reversing joint can be made of metal materials, composite materials and the like and can be flexibly selected according to different working condition requirements, but has the defect that readjustment of the transmission direction is difficult to realize after the installation is finished, and has defects in occasions such as air refueling, high-temperature fluid pipeline transmission and the like.

Patent document CN206268667U provides a pipe joint capable of changing direction at will, which comprises a pipe joint body, the pipe joint body is provided with at least one pipe connection port, the pipe connection port is provided with a transition pipe connected with a pipe to be connected, the transition pipe is provided with a rotating structure capable of enabling the pipe to be connected with the pipe connection port to rotate in a universal way, and the pipe joint body is provided with a reinforcing structure capable of being fixedly connected with the pipe connection port. According to the patent document, compared with the prior art, the pipe joint has the advantages that: the universal rotary pipe joint has the function of universal rotation, does not need to be disassembled and assembled again when changing trend, is simple to use, has the manufacturing cost lower than that of the pipe joint with a plurality of sockets, and has high structural strength and long service life. However, the pipe joint provided in the patent document has a plurality of defects: in the using process of the universal joint, if two parts rotating mutually shrink unevenly due to temperature difference, the leakage of fluid or the blocking phenomenon can be caused; and wear (e.g., the presence of fine particles in the fluid) or corrosion is liable to occur during operation of the revolute pair, thereby leading to leakage failure. In addition, there is also a pipe joint that uses fasteners such as bolts to fix in the prior art, and under the effect of high temperature or periodic stress, the fastener is very easy to loosen, causes the emergence of revealing accident.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the drawbacks of the prior art, an object of the present application is to provide a rotatable connection head.

The rotatable connector comprises a first component and a second component, wherein a rotating cavity is arranged in the first component; the second member includes an adjustment portion;

the adjusting part is wholly or partially arranged in the inner space of the rotating cavity;

a guide space is formed between the inner wall surface of the rotating cavity and the outer wall surface of the adjusting part, and a rolling piece is filled in the guide space.

Preferably, a first channel is also provided in the first member; the second member is provided with a second channel which penetrates through the adjusting part in the length direction;

the first channel inner space and the second channel inner space are communicated with each other.

Preferably, the first member is further provided with a loading and unloading hole, the loading and unloading hole is connected into the guiding and transferring space, and a sealing cover or a one-way valve is arranged at the orifice position of the loading and unloading hole;

the second member further comprises an extension portion, the adjustment portion is integrally formed with or fixedly connected with the extension portion, and the second channel penetrates through the adjustment portion and the extension portion in the length extending direction.

Preferably, the sealing structure is further comprised, the sealing structure comprising a first seal;

the first seal member is fixedly mounted to the first member by an end cap structure.

Preferably, a locking hole is formed in the first member, a locking mechanism is arranged in the locking hole, and a locking rod is integrally formed on the end cover structure; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the end cover structure is provided with a locking screw, the locking screw comprises a thread section and an optical axis section, and the optical axis section forms a locking rod;

the locking bar is matched with the locking mechanism.

Preferably, the locking hole comprises a self-locking hole section, and the inner wall of the self-locking hole section forms a self-locking surface; the locking mechanism comprises a locking piece and a stress application piece;

after the locking rod is inserted into the self-locking hole section, the locking piece can be simultaneously contacted with the locking rod and the self-locking surface under the action of the stressing piece.

Preferably, the force member drives the locking member to transition between two states, a locked state and an unlocked state:

in the locking state, the locking piece is contacted to the locking rod and the self-locking surface at the same time; in the unlocking state, the locking piece is only in contact with the locking rod, only in contact with the self-locking surface, or is not in contact with the locking rod and the self-locking surface.

The force member comprises any one or more of the following: magnet material piece, magnetic deformation piece, electric deformation piece, heat sensitive material piece, hydraulic telescopic structure, pneumatic telescopic structure.

Preferably, the self-locking hole section comprises one or more conical hole sections, and the conical hole sections are in one-to-one correspondence with the locking mechanisms;

two conical hole sections are arranged in opposite directions in the plurality of conical hole sections to form diamond-shaped hole sections.

Preferably, the sealing structure further comprises a second sealing member, the first sealing member and the second sealing member are positioned at two ends along the length extension direction of the adjusting part, and the transduction space and the first channel inner space are isolated from each other; or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the sealing structure only comprises a first sealing piece, and the transduction space is communicated with the inner space of the first channel.

Preferably, the gap between the rollers is filled with any one of the following media: the phase change material piece and the fluid medium conveyed in the rotatable connector are arranged;

the roll member comprises any one of the following structures: self-rolling spheres, self-rolling particles, and deformation avoidance bodies.

Compared with the prior art, the application has the following beneficial effects:

1. according to the application, the rolling body is arranged in the rotating space, and through a reasonable sealing structure, the two relatively rotating components can rotate in multiple degrees of freedom, and meanwhile, leakage or blocking caused by deformation or abrasion is effectively prevented.

2. The application of the phase change material piece ensures that the stability and the rigidity of the whole structure are improved and the friction damping vibration is absorbed under the solid state; in the liquefied or gasified state, the relative displacement between the rolling parts is improved, the friction is reduced, the thermal expansion gap of the pipeline is corrected, and the extrusion lubrication and centering effects are improved.

3. In the preferred scheme, the phase change material piece is ingeniously replaced by the conveying fluid, and the conveying fluid directly plays roles of improving extrusion lubrication and neutrality; moreover, the higher the pressure of the delivery fluid, the better the squeeze lubrication and centering effect.

4. Through the application of the self-locking structure, the end cover structure is effectively fixed, and the failure leakage risk caused by using the traditional threaded fastener is effectively avoided at high temperature or in the occasion with periodic stress.

5. Through the change to the self-locking structure, can also conveniently dismantle and install the end cover structure, enlarged the range of application.

Drawings

Other features, objects and advantages of the present application will become more apparent upon reading of the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments, given with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a rotatable joint according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the rotational degrees of freedom of the rotatable connection head according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a rotatable joint according to a first variation;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a rotatable joint according to a second variation;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a rotatable joint according to a third variation;

the figure shows:

phase change material 320 of first member 100

Rotary cavity 110 sealing structure 400

First seal 410 of mounting and dismounting hole 111

Second seal 420 of cover 112

First channel 120 end cap structure 500

Locking hole 130 locking bar 510

Tapered bore segment 131 locking screw 520

Diamond-shaped hole segment 132 threaded segment 521

Self-locking surface 135 optical axis segment 522

Second member 200 locking mechanism 600

Adjustment portion 211 locking member 610

Extension 212 force member 620

Second channel 220 drives structure 630

Rolling member 310

Detailed Description

The present application will be described in detail with reference to specific examples. The following examples will assist those skilled in the art in further understanding the present application, but are not intended to limit the application in any way. It should be noted that variations and modifications could be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the inventive concept. These are all within the scope of the present application.

In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, are merely for convenience in describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the devices or elements referred to must have a specific orientation, be configured and operated in a specific orientation, and thus should not be construed as limiting the present application.

As shown in fig. 1, the rotatable connector provided by the present application includes a first member 100 and a second member 200, wherein a rotation cavity 110 and a first channel 120 are disposed in the first member 100; the second member 200 includes an adjustment portion 211, a second passage 220 is provided in the second member 200, and the second passage 220 penetrates the adjustment portion 211 in the longitudinal direction; the adjusting part 211 is wholly or partially installed in the inner space of the rotating chamber 110, and the inner space of the first channel 120 and the inner space of the second channel 220 are communicated with each other; a rotation guiding space is formed between the inner wall surface of the rotation chamber 110 and the outer wall surface of the adjustment part 211, and the rotation guiding space is filled with a rotation member 310. Preferably, the second member 200 further includes an extension 212, the adjusting portion 211 is integrally formed with or fastened to the extension 212, and the second channel 220 penetrates the adjusting portion 211 and the extension 212 in the length extending direction, and the extension 212 forms an extending flow guiding structure of the conveying fluid on the conveying path.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the rolling member 310 is preferably a self-rolling sphere such as a small steel ball, and it is of course further preferred that the rolling member 310 may also be self-rolling particles such as graphene particles, silica particles, or the like; the shape of the rolling member 310 is not limited to a sphere, and may be, for example, an ellipsoid, a polyhedron, or the like. In short, the rolling member 310 can be self-lubricated in the space for guiding and supporting the second member 200. Preferably, the rolling member 310 may be a deformation avoiding body, such as a filler capable of being elastically deformed, and avoid the change of the shape of the transduction space by deformation; the change in contact profile between two adjacent deformed avoidance bodies may be considered to be relative rolling.

In an embodiment, the rolling member 310 includes a spherical steel ball, and the spherical steel ball fills the guiding space and is isolated from the inner space of the first channel 120 by a sealing structure 400. The seal structure 400 includes a first seal 410 and a second seal 420, wherein the first seal 410 and the second seal 420 respectively seal the spherical steel balls at two ends along the length extending direction of the adjusting portion 211, that is, the seal structure 400 seals the rotating cavity 110 between the first member 100 and the second member 200. Preferably, the first member 100 is further provided with a loading and unloading hole 111, the loading and unloading hole 111 is connected to the transferring space for filling or taking out the rolling member 310, and a sealing cover 112 or a one-way valve is disposed at the orifice position of the loading and unloading hole 111.

The first sealing member 410 is fixedly installed on the first member 100 through the provided end cover structure 500, specifically, the first member 100 is provided with a locking hole 130, a locking mechanism 600 is arranged in the locking hole 130, and the end cover structure 500 is fixedly connected or integrally formed with a locking rod 510, and the locking rod 510 is matched with the locking mechanism 600. In an embodiment, the locking hole 130 comprises a self-locking hole section, and the inner wall of the self-locking hole section forms a self-locking surface 135; the locking mechanism 600 includes a locking member 610 and a force member 620. After the locking rod 510 is inserted into the self-locking hole section, the locking piece 610 contacts with the locking rod 510 and the self-locking surface 135 simultaneously under the action of the force application piece 620, so that a unidirectional self-locking effect is formed, namely, the locking rod 510 cannot retreat and can only move to the depth of the locking hole 130, and the defect that the existing threaded fastener loosens under the action of high temperature or circulating force is overcome. Preferably, the locking element 610 may have a spherical structure or a wedge-shaped structure. Preferably, the self-locking Kong Duanwei is a tapered hole section 131, and the tapered hole section 131 preferably has an increased hole diameter in the insertion direction of the locking bar 510 so as to realize unidirectional self-locking of the locking bar 510 in the outward movement direction; of course, the self-locking hole segments may also be of other shapes, such as a curved profile of the self-locking surface 135, or one or more wedge-shaped holes arranged circumferentially, etc.

As shown in fig. 2, in the rotatable joint provided by the present application, the second member 200 may rotate along the spherical crown surface by an unlimited rotation angle α along its central axis, or may rotate along the spherical crown surface by using the adjusting portion 211 as a rotation center, for example, the rotation angle β on the vertical plane and the rotation angle γ on the horizontal plane, but the rotation angle along the spherical crown surface is relatively small, so as to avoid the rolling member 310 in the guiding space from moving into the first channel 120 or the second channel 220. There is a certain gap between the rolling members 310, in an embodiment, the gap between the rolling members 310 is filled with the phase change material 320, that is, the space for guiding the rotation is filled with both the rolling members 310 and the phase change material 320. The arrangement of the structure of the phase change material 320, such as paraffin, which is liquefied or gasified in a high temperature environment, has the following two advantages: firstly, when the phase change material piece 320 is solidified at a lower temperature, the stability and rigidity of the whole structure can be improved, and meanwhile, the phase change material piece is favorable for absorbing friction damping vibration and reducing vibration; secondly, when the phase change material 320 is liquefied or gasified at a higher temperature, the relative displacement between the rolling members 310 can be improved, the friction is reduced, the thermal expansion gap of the pipeline is corrected, and the extrusion lubrication and centering effects are improved. The operation temperature of the phase change material 320 depends on the temperature of the transport fluid in the first and second channels 120 and 220, and the heat of the transport fluid is transferred to the phase change material 320 through the adjustment part 211; in a preferred embodiment, the phase change material 320 may also be provided with a temperature control device alone, such as a heating element mounted on the first member 100.

In an embodiment, a relative seal between the transduction space and the inner space of the first channel 120 is achieved by the second seal 420 being embedded. As shown in fig. 3, in the first variant of the present application, the second sealing member 420 is omitted, that is, the sealing structure 400 only includes the first sealing member 410, and the space for guiding the fluid and the space inside the first channel 120 are mutually communicated, but the gap between the communicating portions is smaller than the diameter of the rolling member 310, so that the rolling member 310 cannot leak out of the space for guiding the fluid while the fluid can circulate between the two spaces, and the rotation range of the second member 200 on the spherical cap surface should be determined so that the rolling member 310 cannot leak out. Through the structure, the fluid conveyed in the channel directly plays the role of the liquefied or gasified phase change material piece 320, and plays roles of improving extrusion lubrication and neutrality; moreover, the higher the pressure of the delivery fluid, the better the squeeze lubrication and centering effect. The single-side sealing structure adopted in the variation has a remarkable difference from the double-side sealing in the prior art, and lubrication is realized through fluid, such as oil, in the rotatable connector, namely, the oil way forms a lubrication structure, which also belongs to the ingenious structural conception of the application.

As shown in fig. 4, in a second variation of the present application, the locking bar 510 is not directly formed with the end cover structure 500, but the end cover structure 500 is provided with a locking screw 520, where the locking screw 520 includes a threaded section 521 and an optical axis section 522, and the optical axis section 522 forms the locking bar 510, so that during the installation process of the end cover structure 500, tightening by pushing is not required, and the assembly difficulty is effectively reduced.

As shown in fig. 5, in a third modification of the present application, the structures of the locking hole 130 and the locking mechanism 600 are changed. The force member 620 included in the locking mechanism 600 includes any one or more of the following: magnet material piece, magnetic deformation piece, electric deformation piece, heat sensitive material piece, hydraulic telescopic structure, pneumatic telescopic structure. The force member 620 drives the locking member 610 to transition between the locked state and the unlocked state: in the locked state, the locking member 610 contacts both the locking bar 510 and the self-locking surface 135; in the unlocked state, the locking member 610 is in contact with only the locking bar 510, only the self-locking surface 135, or neither the locking bar 510 nor the self-locking surface 135. In the locked state, the locking mechanism 600 completes the one-way locking of the locking lever 510; in the unlocked state, the locking bar 510 is free to move, thereby facilitating the installation and removal of the end cap structure 500. The force member 620 is provided with corresponding driving structures 630 such as a power source, a driving magnetic field, a heating structure, an oil pump, an air pump, etc. In addition, for the heat-sensitive material member, it is possible to expand to the shape memory alloy member, and the deformation of the force member 620 is achieved by a change in temperature.

Further preferably, the locking hole 130 includes a diamond-shaped hole segment 132, wherein the inner wall of the diamond-shaped hole segment 132 forms two self-locking surfaces 135, i.e. a first self-locking surface and a second self-locking surface, respectively in the depth extending direction, and each self-locking surface 135 is correspondingly provided with a set of locking mechanisms 600. By the above structure, the conversion of the locking lever 510 between the two-way locking, the insertion locking, the outer pulling locking and the two-way free state can be realized, and the application range is improved. Of course, the diamond-shaped hole segments 132 may be considered to be formed by arranging two tapered hole segments 131 in opposite directions, and in practical application, the two tapered hole segments 131 may be arranged in opposite directions, or the two tapered hole segments 131 may not be continuous, but connected by, for example, a cylindrical transition hole segment, so as to ensure that two self-locking surfaces 135 with opposite inclination directions are provided.

In a fourth variant of the present application, the first member 100 and/or the second member 200 may not have a fluid passage, such as the first passage 120 and the second passage 220 described above, and the rotatable joint provided by the present application is no longer used for fluid transportation, but merely serves as a joint mechanism similar to a universal joint, so as to provide a degree of freedom of rotation in a specific direction. Compared with the universal joint in the prior art, the application still has the advantages of good neutrality, high structural stability, capability of preventing clamping caused by temperature difference deformation, and the like.

The foregoing describes specific embodiments of the present application. It is to be understood that the application is not limited to the particular embodiments described above, and that various changes and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art within the scope of the claims without affecting the spirit of the application. The embodiments of the application and the features of the embodiments may be combined with each other arbitrarily without conflict.

Claims

1. A rotatable joint characterized by comprising a first member (100) and a second member (200), wherein a rotation cavity (110) is arranged in the first member (100); the second member (200) includes an adjustment portion (211);

the adjusting part (211) is wholly or partially arranged in the inner space of the rotating cavity (110);

a transduction space is formed between the inner wall surface of the rotation cavity (110) and the outer wall surface of the adjusting part (211), and a rolling piece (310) is filled in the transduction space;

the first member (100) is also provided with a first channel (120); the second member (200) is provided with a second passage (220), and the second passage (220) penetrates the adjustment part (211) in the length direction;

the first channel (120) inner space is communicated with the second channel (220) inner space;

the first component (100) is also provided with a loading and unloading hole (111), the loading and unloading hole (111) is connected into the transduction space, and a sealing cover (112) or a one-way valve is arranged at the orifice position of the loading and unloading hole (111);

the second member (200) further comprises an extension part (212), the adjusting part (211) is integrally formed with or fixedly connected with the extension part (212), and the second channel (220) penetrates through the adjusting part (211) and the extension part (212) in the length extending direction;

also included is a sealing structure (400), the sealing structure (400) including a first seal (410);

the first seal (410) is fixedly mounted to the first member (100) by an end cap structure (500) provided;

a locking hole (130) is formed in the first member (100), a locking mechanism (600) is arranged in the locking hole (130), and a locking rod (510) is integrally formed on the end cover structure (500); or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the end cover structure (500) is provided with a locking screw (520), the locking screw (520) comprises a threaded section (521) and an optical axis section (522), and the optical axis section (522) forms a locking rod (510);

the locking bar (510) mates with the locking mechanism (600).

2. The rotatable joint according to claim 1, wherein the locking hole (130) comprises a self-locking hole section, an inner wall of which forms a self-locking surface (135); the locking mechanism (600) comprises a locking piece (610) and a force applying piece (620);

after the locking rod (510) is inserted into the self-locking hole section, the locking piece (610) can be simultaneously contacted with the locking rod (510) and the self-locking surface (135) under the action of the stressing piece (620).

3. The rotatable joint of claim 2, wherein the biasing member (620) drives the locking member (610) between the locked state and the unlocked state:

in the locking state, the locking piece (610) is simultaneously contacted to the locking rod (510) and the self-locking surface (135); in the unlocking state, the locking piece (610) is only contacted with the locking rod (510), is only contacted with the self-locking surface (135), or is not contacted with the locking rod (510) and the self-locking surface (135);

the force member (620) comprises any one or more of the following: magnet material piece, magnetic deformation piece, electric deformation piece, heat sensitive material piece, hydraulic telescopic structure, pneumatic telescopic structure.

4. A rotatable joint according to claim 3, wherein the self-locking hole segments comprise one or more tapered hole segments (131), the tapered hole segments (131) being in one-to-one correspondence with the locking means (600);

two conical hole sections (131) are arranged in opposite directions in the plurality of conical hole sections (131) to form diamond-shaped hole sections (132).

5. The rotatable joint according to claim 1, wherein the sealing structure (400) further comprises a second sealing member (420), the first sealing member (410) and the second sealing member (420) being located at both ends in a direction along the length extension of the adjustment portion (211), the diversion space being isolated from the inner space of the first passage (120); or alternatively, the process may be performed,

the sealing structure (400) only comprises a first sealing element (410), and the transduction space is communicated with the inner space of the first channel (120).

6. The rotatable joint according to claim 1, characterized in that the gap between the rolling members (310) is filled with any one of the following media: the phase change material piece (320) and the fluid medium conveyed in the rotatable connector are arranged;

the roll (310) comprises any one of the following structures: self-rolling spheres, self-rolling particles, and deformation avoidance bodies.